Subcutaneous Infliximab in Refractory Crohn's Disease Patients: A Possible Biobetter?

Background: A subcutaneous formulation of infliximab (IFX-SC) approved to treat patients with inflammatory bowel disease may offer improved efficacy versus intravenous infliximab.

Methods: Patients with refractory Crohn's disease (CD, n = 32) previously treated unsuccessfully with at least 2 biologics were treated with IFX-SC and followed from baseline at Week 0 (W0) to Week 30 (W30). The study's primary endpoint was the treatment's persistence at W30, while secondary goals included the analysis of serum infliximab trough levels (TL IFX), dynamics of anti-IFX antibodies (ATIs), and clinical, serum and fecal markers of CD activity during IFX-SC treatment.

Results: Midterm treatment persistence with the continuation of treatment after W30 was 53%. TL IFX median values showed rapid, significant upward dynamics and exceeded 15.5 μg/mL at W30, whereas median ATI levels significantly declined. Among ATI-negative patients at W0 (n = 15), only one showed IFX immunogenicity with newly developed ATIs at W30. Among ATI-positive patients at W0, ATI seroconversion from ATI-positive to ATI-negative status was observed in 10 of 17 patients (58.8%). Patients who had continued IFX-SC treatment at W30 showed significant decreases in C-reactive protein (P = .0341), fecal calprotectin (P = .0002), and Harvey-Bradshaw index (P = .0029) since W0.

Conclusions: Patients with refractory CD previously treated with at least 2 biologics exhibited clinically relevant improvement with IFX-SC, which showed less immunogenic potential than IFX-IV and highly stable TL IFX.